The Three Stooges Plus One
by RavenOfFrost
Summary: When a young girl's guardian goes missing, she goes on a hunt to find him, but shortly after she meets an odd trio who takes her in and helps her along the way to find her friend.
1. Prologue

It was seven on a Friday night in Los Angeles, 1938 as a girl, at the age of sixteen, was sitting on the dark-green couch, reading _The Hobbit _as her friend and guardian was getting ready to go the bar to see some of his friends. "All right, kid," Jack Harrison, a thirty-year-old man with black hair slicked back wearing a black suit with a fedora. "I'll see you later." He gathered his keys on the kitten counter.

The young girl raised her head, looking at him with green eyes. "Bye, Jack. Tell the guys I said 'hi'."

The man smiled at her. "I will and try to not to do anything stupid." Humor was in his dark eyes.

She laughed. "I won't. Bye."

"See ya." With that, he walked out of the house and close the door behind and locked it.

Roxanne Connell was her name. Used to be an orphan until her father's best friend found her years after the accident and took her under his wing. In the beginning it was rough since she wasn't used to having a guardian and he wasn't used to her, but as the weeks slowly went by, the two of them are inseparable and were best friends. She didn't call him a brother let alone a father, just a guardian as he just called her his "responsibility". The guy had a way with words. Turning back to her book, Roxanne waiting patiently for nine, his usual time to be home from the bar with his friends. But when nine came around, so did ten, but Jack never showed. Roxanne was now getting worried. He was never this late. She turned on the radio, trying to find any road accidents, but nothing was on. When eleven came around, the teenager was now going to take matters into her own hands. She grabbed a hat and placed it over her auburn hair, threw on some slacks with her brown coat. Something was wrong and she was going to find out what is was.

Two days had past since the teenager was on her own yet again. Jack was nowhere to be found and people had no idea where he was. Keeping her head high and senses sharp, the young girl walked into a swinging joint at nine at Sunday night as a band of three was playing and people playing cards. Roxanne scanned the area for her dark-haired friend, but he was not here. He never came to this place anyway. She just mentally shrugged to herself, knowing that it was going to be a easy place to win money if Poker was involved. Jack taught her a thing or two about the game while playing with some of his pals and she was a quick learner when it came to gambling. She walked inside and took a seat at the bar as the band took a break.

The bartender walked up to her and arched an eye at her. "How old are you?"

"I just want water," Roxanne admitted, smirking innocently at him and pulled out some money from her black wallet.

The older man just gave her suspicious glare as he got her a glass of water.

"Thanks," she said, still smirking. This place was not like the other bars she went to. She knew people there and so did Jack, but here, she knew no one and that was the hard part if she was underaged and knew nobody. Where could've Jack got to? It was as if he disappeared off the face of the Earth. She was worried, but kept herself calm. A little too calm.

The bartender just gave her a nod, and carried on his business.

"What the hell are you doing, Roxxy?" She sighed softly to herself, then a rough-looking man sat next her, making her feel small. She knew that she should've called the cops when he first went missing, but that wasn't like her. She was used to taking care of things herself.

"George," the man growled beside her. "Whisky."

"On it!" The bartender called.

The man then looked at her, making her feel nervous. Never before had she seen this man, but she did not like him. "I recognize that red hair anywhere," he growled. "You're Jack's kid."

Her heart skipped a beat as those words, then smirked, calming herself as she asked, "What about him?"

He grabbed her shoulder, making her freeze in terror. "That bastard owes me money."

"How much?" She asked quietly, knowing that he was going to tell her either way.

"Five grand."

"I only have twenty bucks," she muttered, smiling nervously as his fingers dug into her coat. She knew she couldn't kick him. That would only make things worse. Well, she could always run and she was with other people, but that was something that she hated to do. It was too… dependent.

"Well, then," the man growled, making her feel his twisted grin. "I always hated to hurt a girl, but Jack's gotta learn."

Roxanne's heart began to pound in her chest, making her quickly stand up, and kick him in the shin as hard as she could, then bolted to the door, but he grabbed her by the wrist. "Let of me!" She growled, struggling to break free, not wanting to cause attention. Where was her pal when she needed him?

He then got eye level to her. His blonde hair was slicked back with striking blue eyes with a rough face and he and looked deep into her eyes and gave a deep growl, "Where is that son of a-"

"Hey! What's goin' on here?" A man called as three shorter men approached them, making the man turn his attention to the three strangers.

"None of your concern," he snapped and squeezed Roxanne's wrist harder, making her claw at his hand, trying to break his grip as he was breaking her circulation of blood.

"So you'd threaten a you girl?" The one in the middle with a bowl hair cut and dressed in a dark-brown suit crossed his arms as he glared up at the aggressive man with narrowed blue eyes as the other two crossed their arms and looked as backup. They weren't strong enough to take down the brute individually, but the three of them together could.

"And let her go before you break her hand," the one with curly red hair snapped, gesturing angrily to her aching wrist.

The man roughly released her, straightened out his black coat, gave each of them a final glare, then to her and pointed a finger at her with burning eyes. "Tell Jack he owes me."

Roxanne just turned her head angrily away from him as he walked out. Now that guy was a lowlife and she met a lot of those kind.

"Gee," the third man with a shaven head began with a smile, "he musta had a rough day. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk."

The one with the bowl hair cut glared at him. "Shuddup." He then turned to the teen with concern. "Hey, you okay, kid?"

The lonely teenager fixed her coat. "Yeah." She then looked at them with a small smile. "Thanks."

The redhead looked at her with anger and confusion. "What is young girl like yourself doin' in a place like this? What would yer parents think?"

Roxanne looked away in heartache and uttered, "I don't have any parents." Jack was the only one she had, but he was loose. He watched over her and protected her, but he wasn't a real parent. He wasn't even legally her guardian. He just took her under his wing for the last year after finding out that he was a close friend to her father's. Almost immediately, she felt their stares lighten up, then the three of them walked a few feet away and huddled, talking amongst each other. The young girl raised her head, trying to listen in on what the three had to say, then they each gave a curt nod, making them knock each other's head and step back in pain.

The leader scuffled angrily at them, making them flench, then they walked up to her.

He crossed his arms, making her look at him. "What's yer name?"

"Roxanne," she answered truthfully.

"I'm Moe. This is Larry," he pointed to the redhead on his left with his thumb, who smiled kindly at her. "And Curly," he gave a motion with his head to the one on his right.

Curly grinned at her and gave her a little wave. "Hiya."

"We're outcasts, too. Well, merely musicians," Moe continued. "So we know what it's like being on yer own and Los Angeles is a big place."

Roxanne just sadly nodded as she looked down, understanding his words. It's not easy being on your own in the big city, especially when you're just a kid.

"You three ready?" A voice called from the back of the bar.

"Be there in a minute," Moe hollered back. He then turned back to the teen. "You wanna stay here until the last half hour?"

Roxanne smirked and looked at the three of them. They each had some form of kindness in their eyes and they did help her out. "Sure. I have nothing better to do, but," she turned back to the door, then back to them and crossed her arms, "if that guy comes back, I'm outta here."

"Friend of yours?" Larry joked with a smile.

She chuckled. "Hardly."

The three of them then walked back to the stage just before Larry told the bartender something and the two glanced over at her, and George nodded his and walked up to her as the musician carried on his way. "The three told me to keep and eye on you if Cody returns, which I highly doubt he will."

Roxanne smirked, taking her glass in her hand as she took a seat. "Hope not." Then she frowned, taking a sip of her water, lost in thought. _Jack, what did you do?_

It was half an hour like they said when the band was wrapping things up and met Roxanne. She still could not get over how Jack owed that guy money. He was never a gambler or anything of the sort. But was there something that he was hiding? If there was, good riddance because she hated lairs, especially when it came to friends and family. Was that the reason why he left? She only hoped that Jack was okay at least. They were friends after all. When the three musicians approached her, the four of them began walking out of the bar in silence.

"What's your story, kid?" Moe asked, breaking the ice as they took a right.

"Just a strange one," she smiled, then began to tell some of the main parts of her life like how she her parents died when she just a child and grew up on her own, refusing to go to an orphanage, she was on her own. A short time later, she met Jack Harrison, a man who claimed to be best friends with her father. Not believing him, she avoided him, but he only answered questions that no else, but she would know. He knew everything about the car wreck to looking in orphanages- where he got the tip on her escape- and wanted to take her under his wing, knowing that she's been on her own for too long. It took a couple of months to trust him, but when he showed her lost pictures of her parents and when she was a young child in her mother's arms and even with him and her father at a couple of hang-outs, she trusted him like no other. "So this Jack guy," Larry, who was walking beside Moe, began as they were walking down the street with his violin case in his hand, "is like a father to you?" He leaned forward to look at her with wonder in his blue eyes.

Roxanne laughed at that. "Yeah. I guess he is. But he disappeared." She sadly frowned. "And I don't know where he is." "He left? Why would he do that?" Curly asked innocently as he was on her left.

She couldn't help, but chuckle at that. "I lonely hope that he is alright." She smiled as she placed her hands behind her head. "Besides, I don't mind being on my own." She then frowned and her hands fell to her sides, looking around at the dark city as cars drove by. "Just only when it gets dark."

The three of them of them nodded in agreement.

The teen then looked at them with a smile. "Okay, enough about me. How about you three?" She looked at them with a happier smile, knowing that it was time to lighten up the mood.

Larry chuckled. "Where do we begin?"

"_I'll _take care of this one, porcupine," Moe nudged in with a proud smile and turned to her. "You see, kid, we were friends since childhood. Maybe even as infants. We grew up as orphans. Kinda like you, but instead we never got adopted and was kicked out when he became of age. Then we lived our lives, but we're still stuck together."

"Till the very end!" Larry said with a smile.

"And then maybe even after the end," Curly grinned as Moe looked at the two of them with annoyance.

"Don't make it sound longer than it is," he warned.

"Hey," Curly said with a smile, ignoring his comment. "She is just like us!" He beamed at teen with sparkle in his eye. "An outcast with similar stories." He then turned to his bossy friend. "Hey, Moe. Do ya think she can come with us? She's a real nice kid and we could probably help her find this Jack." Before he could answer, he looked at Roxanne. "Do you have any place to go?"

She shook her head and looked at him. "Not really. I just wonder around." It was the truth. There was no reason to go back to an empty home. She left a note on the counter for Jack if he came back when she wasn't there. She returned home the first night he was gone, but realizing that he wasn't going to come back, she did not return. Now the only time she has a place if she knows it's safe or when a kind person lets her in for the night which is actually never. She tries to only sleep when she has to, but for the last night, she slept in an abandoned house, but knew that she couldn't stay there for long.

The bigger man smiled back at his friend with wide blue eyes. "Please, can we keep her? I promise that I'll look after her."

They all stopped walking as Moe narrowed his eyes at him. "What do ya think she is? A pet?" He smacked him on the forehead. "Ya moron."

Larry then walked over to them and looked at him with reason. "No, but she needs a place to stay and the streets are dangerous. It's only a matter of time before something happens to her and she needs to find her friend slash gaurdian."

"Yeah!" Curly cried and looked at Moe in a challenging way. "She is just a kid. What are ya goin' to do? Leave her on the streets?"

"Now that is cold!" Larry said, turning away while crossing his arms, pretending to be hurt.

Roxanne tried not to laugh as the two were trying to give their out-numbered friend a guilt trip.

Moe rolled his eyes and looking up at the sky. "Give one reason on why we need to take her in?" He then turned to the teen who just looked at him with confused eyes. "I mean, look at her. She doesn't want us three loomin' over her!"

"Aw, Moe," Curly pleaded as she began to look around the area as a couple of cars went by. "She does need a place to stay. I mean, look at her! She's alone and on her own. Only at the age of-"

"Sixteen," she answered casually.

"Sixteen," Curly repeated.

Roxanne didn't notice the three of them looking at her as she was now looking around at the night sky, fading out of their conversation as she trying to figure out where the Giant Dipper was.

"She's so alone," Larry said dramatically, gesturing to her, "that she forgot she's with us!"

Moe just looked at him. "'She's so alone that she forgot she's with us'?" He the slapped him him, making the young girl come back to reality to with wide eyes. "What's gotten in to you?" He was about to strangle him, but then turned to her as he relaxed and turned to her. "Hey, kid. Do you wanta come with us? It's better than the streets let alone staying at an empty house by yourself."

She looked at him and admitted, "I don't want to be burden."

"Easy. Can you make money?"

"I can pickpocket," she admitted. It was true. Before she met Jack, she was a little pickpocket at times. Something she wasn't quite proud of.

"No, no. Not stealing. Like can ya get a job?"

They other two looked at her eagerly.

She shook her head in shame. "I have no schooling under my belt, but I taught myself." She never been to a real school for years, but she does go to library and get knowledgeable books and teaches herself things like they would at any other school. Jack told her that he would bring her to school, but he wasn't her legal guardian. Why? She could never find the answer. "Can ya sing?" Larry asked with a smiled as he leaned forward.

She shook her head, then grinned excitedly. "But I can play the piano!"

"Perfect!" Moe cried with a smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they continued to walk. "We'll find away to fit ya in the band. Stick with us, kid, and you'll be okay."

As the four of them walked on, Roxanne's guard was never put down, but by the way these three were, there was never a dull moment and even though that the three were with each other, she could tell that their friendship was thick as thieves and if you messed with one, you messed with them all. They were friends, but deep down, they were like brothers and no one was going to break that.


	2. Chapter 1

**I hope you enjoyed the Prologue. This is my first story on this website, so I'm still getting used to things so bare with me. By the way, name of the shop is from the episode Three Loan Wolves and Roxanne belongs to me and clearly the Three Stooges are themselves. **

* * *

Three days had past since Roxanne had joined with the oddball trio called the Three Stooges, who allowed her to stay in there home and help her search for Jack, and in the meantime she would learn their songs on the stand-up wooden piano they had in the living room, getting ready for her first gig on this upcoming Friday, not wanting to let them down. She did owe them for everything they did, after all. They hardly ever used a piano in their band, but now Roxanne was determined to get the songs be the end of the week, making her practice hour after hour. But she always did have her break at the end of the day like playing made-up songs as Larry was on the violin and the two just jam, but when the three were doing their side job at the pawn shop they owned that she never been to, Roxanne would just either take a walk or do whatever she felt like, or continue to carry on her search. Either going to the local police station or Heaven forbid, the morgue, nothing would come up on her missing friend, but she'd always returned to the apartment by four. Today, however, was different. Instead of being at home or searching for her friend, the boys took her with to show their job at the pawn shop.

"Well," Moe announced proudly as they walked in the roomy shop. "This is it."

"Here Today, Pawn Tomorrow," Larry finished with a smile.

Roxanne chuckled at that name. "Nice name and nice place." She began to walk around and looking at the instruments, then to the other things like bowling balls, golf gear, old radios and televisions, and all sorts of things. "How is business?" She looked at them as they began to set up shop.

"It's doin' pretty well," Larry answered as he began to clean the wooden counter that was near the back of the shop. "We had this place for five months already and I think we finally found a stable job." Then added under his breath, "For once."

Roxanne smiled as she walked up to him. "For once?"

He just turned his gaze at her as if she knew what he meant.

"I'll leave it at that, then," the teen simply said with a innocent smile. She had feeling that her three companions weren't the type to have a stable job.

"Yeah, you better," was all that he said.

"Hey, porcupine," Moe called from the back. "Lend me a hand, will ya?"

Larry then gave her a quick smile. "Excuse me," then hurried to the back, knowing his friend's temper.

The teen then spotted Curly, who was happily dusting a tuba on the left side of the shop, singing his own tune to himself, and approached him with a smile. "So, how's-"

Then there was a loud crash coming from the back, making them both face the direction with wide and stunned eyes.

"You were goin' to say somethin'?" Curly asked, not taking his eyes off the back door, trying to change their attention away from whatever just happened.

"Uh, I was?" Roxanne asked, forgetting what she was going to say, then there they were: Moe dragging Larry out by the hair.

"I'm sorry, Moe," the man pleaded. "It was an accident!"

The older one then looked at him with anger as he roughly released his frizzy hair. "An accident? You just broke fifteen plates, ya imbecile!" He then slapped him and pointed to the back room. "Now go clean it up!" He then turned to Curly. "Hey, knucklehead. Go help him."

The innocent one instantly dropped the feather duster and hurried to the back with Larry taking the lead, and disappeared.

Moe just shook his head with his hands on his hips. "The things that I put up with."

"Never a dull moment, huh?" Roxanne asked with a uncertain smile as she walked up to him. Knowing his temper, she was always on her toes, not wanting to get him annoyed.

The older man just slowly shook his head. "What am I goin' to do with 'em?"

"Nothing," she smiled with humor as she looked at the backdoor. "You're stuck with them." She then grinned at him, knowing it was true and so did he by the way he smiled as he hung his head.

He then looked at her with a worn-out look. "Boy, ain't that truth."

Roxanne looked at him, knowing that it was time to bring the subject up. "Do you want me to get a job, Moe? After everything you and the others have been doing for me? You did take me in and for what reason?" She knew that the question had to be asked as the guilt was slowly building up and now was the time.

He looked at her with calm and understanding eyes. "Roxxy. We don't expect ya to run out and get a job. I mean, you also had done some things for yourself like getting your own things and ya even got food yesterday."

"But I'm running out of money. I only have five bucks left and then you three will have to spend money for one more and I don't want that to happen." She even thought when she would run to of money, she would leave and take care of herself and carry on the search alone. Wanting it to be a temporary stay, but that would mean that she would left alone in a house, looking and worrying for Jack, and if something did happen to him, then what? It would be back to square one again, but it wouldn't be the first time. Also, if the cops caught her, she would be more than likely sent back to the orphanage.

"Hey, morons!" Moe called, breaking her thoughts. "Get out here!"

A moment later, the two of them came strolling back in, ready for their next order.

"You think we have room for one more employ for this joint?" He asked.

"I think so," Larry answered, then he smiled eagerly. "Who's the new guy?"

"Do we know 'em?" Curly asked with an excited smile.

Moe narrowed his eyes as he crossed his arms and just looked at the two like they were idiots. "I'm talkin' about Roxanne!" He yelled, annoyed as he pointed at the sixteen-year-old, who just stood there with wide eyes at the sound of her name.

"Ohhh," the two others said simultaneously as they just looked at him.

"Sure," Larry was the first to answer with a smile.

"I think she'll be great," Curly chimed in.

The main boss then looked at her with a smile and held out his hand. "Congratulations, kid, ya got yer job."

Roxanne then smiled eagerly as she shook his hand. "Thank you and I promise that I will not disappoint."

He smiled as they released the shake and looked at her. "You start today, kid, but I'll show ya the ropes." He then turned to the other two. "Did ya numbskulls finish cleanin' up that mess?"

"Yes," they answered at the same time with a curt nod and smile.

"Good. Now get to work," he ordered.

The two looked at each other, then to him. "But there are no cost-"

"Now," he said coldly, making them scurry off into random directions. "Follow me," he said as he ordered the girl to follow as they headed behind the counter to the cash register and began to show how to use it, and then gave her the tour of the storage room that was filled with random boxes and remains of the broken plates, making the boss just shake his head and made it her first job to clean it up, which she did not mind at all. As long as she was working to chip in for the money for her new friends, that's all she could ask for, but she knew that she was not going to stay long. She didn't know how long, but she would know what she overstayed her time. She only hoped that she was going to find Jack soon, concerned for her friend's safety. That's all she wanted so she wouldn't have the feeling of a burden.


	3. Chapter 2

Most of Thursday, Roxanne was helping cleaning up the pawn shop, assisting costumers, and brushing off the chaos of the three which was now quite normal. Normally the business was slow, but it could've been worse. At least they were making money out of the job. Then when they would return home at four, they would rehearse for the upcoming gig for the Friday night show. Sundays and Fridays is when they normally play at the bar and tomorrow was the night of the first show with piano. After hours of rehearsing the new songs and making piano parts for the newbie, rehearseal was finally over and that's when the teenager would get lost in a book that she found in a nearby bookshop. Then the sun began to set and the whole place was turning in for the night as Roxanne was playing some slow songs on the piano to end her night when Moe walked in the living room and looked at her. "Yer still on that thing?"

"I missed it for so long. I haven't played for less than a year." She carried on playing as the notes flowed together like a calm river. She wished that Jack had a piano after all those months, but she didn't mind. She would normally play at music stores or something. Funny, she never told him that she would play. Maybe after they find him, she would.

Her friend then chuckled. "That's a long time." He then began to walk to the kitchen.

She smirked as she lowered her hands from the keys. "I'll say." She then turned to him. "Thanks again for the job. I really appreciate it."

He smiled at her with humor. "Surprised that ya didn't lose yer job on the first day?"

Roxanne was taken aback by his words and knew there was a reason that he asked that. "You lost your job on the first day?"

The older man smiled as he began to search for something in the cabinets. "Sure did. The boys as well."

"That's ironic," she muttered. How was it possible to lose your job on the first day, then she remember who she was dealing with, making her smirk. "What was the job?"

"Reporters," he answered with a smile. "Ah, there it is." He then pulled out the only cup from the cabinet, then began to get some water from the tap. "Yep. The boys and I were reporters for the local newspaper awhile ago."

The teen knew that there was going to be a good story behind this as she stood up and walked up to the small kitchen counter, smiling eagerly. "What happened?"

"Well," he looked at her with humor in his dark eyes. "We were sent to get the latest scoop on some stolen art at a museum. Well, we went to the museum, and turned out to be the wrong museum. We kept tellin' the guy that we're to ask about the stolen art. He looked at us like we were nuts and wasted half an hour arguin' with the guys there. By the time we figured it out, another reporter already got the interview, the boss called us in, and that was it."

She laughed as she shook her head. "From reporters to pawners."

"And countless jobs in-between," he added quietly as he turned his attention back to the now over flowing glass, quickly turning the faucet off with an annoyed look as he began to pour some of it.

She giggled and slowly frowned as she looked down at the white countertop. "What if I do mess up?" She never had a real job before and there was a saying about never doing business with friends or something. She was the one who would normally play Poker or pick pockets for money, knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep a steady job.

"Hey," Moe said, making her look at him as he was just done drying his hands with a dish towel and threw in down on the counter. "You get more work done than the other two. I might have to fire them if ya keep that up."

Her eyes grew in horror at the thought as worry made her mind lock on the thought. "But I don't want to take their jobs."

He then began to laugh as he was drying his hands on a dishcloth. "I'm kidding. You need to lighten up more, kid." He placed the cloth on the counter and smiled at her. "I think the workin' about paying us back has gotten to yer head. Lighten up and don't worry about it. You're a good and smart kid, Roxxy. Besides, we have a show tomorrow and last time I heard we have a new pianist." He looked at her with a smile. Roxanne gave a chuckle. "Yeah, I guess." She then smiled at him. "So you think that I shouldn't worry about paying you-"

Moe crossed his arms and looked at her sternly as the smile faded. "If I say ya shouldn't worry, ya shouldn't worry. Now stop thinkin' about all of that, otherwise I'll have to tell ya not to think about it. Now I have new job for you to do: stop worryin' about it and accept it. Ya hear me?"

She gave a curt nod of the head. "Yes, sir." She then smiled at him, having a lighter feeling in her head as she heeded her new friend's words. "Thanks, Moe. For everything." She then walked back to the couch that was now her bed and flopped on it with a smile on her face, grinning at the wooden piano. If only Jack could see her now. Jack. The name made her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. What was Jack doing right now? She only hoped that he was alive. After the show, she was going to continue the search, but she didn't even know where to look. She didn't even know where to start. Before she left, she called his two pals, but even they didn't know where he was. They left before he did.

"Night, Roxxy," Moe called as he walked out of the living room.

"Night," she answered back. Jack was never the type who would disappear. if he said he was going to come back, he was going to come back. But there was something she was missing. Something that would somehow give her a step closer into finding him. It was slowly driving her mad. She would forget about it as she would be with her three new friends, but when she was alone, all the scary thoughts would rush back into her mind, reminding her that she was running out of time. She remembered how he did make her laugh and they did have fun together like father and daughter. She then smirked bitterly. What is a father and what is a daughter? She hardly remembered the ones she once called 'dad' and 'mom'. All she remembered were screeching tires and a loud bang. Even cops were dumbfounded at how she survived the crash. She just closed her green eyes and drifted off to sleep, whipping her dark memory away, but a dream of her old friend awaited her.

Jack just glared at the tall man with hatred as his chin-length black hair was straggly and stringy, no longer it was slicked back and silky as it was before. "What do you want me for?" He asked coldly. "I already gave you what you wanted. Money! Isn't that what you wanted?" For six days, Jack was nothing, but tied up to a chair and guarded by gangers with guns. Gangers that he ran into five years prior. He didn't have the greatest choice of friends when he was younger. He was just glad that he finally grew up at the age of twenty-six, calling the cops, he placed it all behind him, until his past caught up with him.

The man in a grey suit just chuckled. "Jack, Jack, Jack," he said with humor in his voice with brown eyes shining. "You were always a fool." He then looked at him with darkness as the smile faded. "You betrayed us. Did you know that you even had Devon killed while being chased?"

"Aw, isn't that a shame," he replied coldly. He was tired of being reminded as was never close to these guys. He was only with them for a year, but when he accidentally shot an innocent during a back robbery, his heart ached like never before. He never felt so much guilt, so much self-hate. He knew he was on the wrong side and that it was no longer fun and games- as if it ever was. He was now playing on both sides, eventually turning them and himself in. But they weren't easy to catch. Supposedly one was shot and he learnt that just now. He only got a year of prison since he turned himself- let alone the gang- in; telling the cops every heist the pulled, including the death of the civilian. He also got out early on good behavior and after that, he become a salesman. So far it wasn't a bad job and it paid well enough.

"You traitor," Mike growled. A sneer then spread across his face. "Since you had one us taken, we might as well take out one of your own."

Worry made his blood run cold. "What do you mean?"

He smiled twistingly. "We know about the girl."


	4. Chapter 3

It was Friday night and it was time to head to the bar for the show. Dressed in her black dress with leggings, Roxanne threw her shoulder-length auburn hair in a quick braided bun and black shoes from last minute shopping after they got off from work. Not used to dressing up in a getup of the sort, Roxanne walked out of the bathroom to the living room to her three waiting friends, who looked at her with awe. She smirked shyly. "Is it too much for this?"

"No way," Larry waved his hand. "You're the pianist. You wanna look nice." He batted his eyes at her, pretending to be the fancy type, until Moe slapped him.

"All right," she said with a relieved smile. "Let's go." She was about to march to the door, until Moe began to talk.

"Hold on," the black-haired man began as the other two had a smile slowly growing on each of their faces, making her look at them in confusion. "The three of us were talkin' and the pawn shop has been workin' well for us, but if something happens to us, who knows what would happen to it."

"Huh?" She asked, arching an eyebrow, not quite sure where this was going.

"In other words," Larry cut in, now fully smiling, "we placed the shop in your hands to care for after us."

Her eyes slowly grow in disbelief. "Are you serious?" She whispered, looking at each of them.

"Or course!" Curly cried happily. "Why wouldn't we? Nyck-Nyck-Nyck."

"The shop will… belong to me after… you?" Her mind was still wrapping around their words as she pointed a small finger at them in disbelief, then worry flooded her mind. "But what if I leave or something or that I only stay temporary or-"

Moe shrugged with a small smile. "It doesn't matter. It's still under your name. After that, you can do whatever ya want with it. It'll be past down to you, Roxanne. In the meantime, you'll just remain as an employee. Until we find Jack that is."

Roxanne felt her eyes sparkling like never before as her heart was throbbing with emotion. She then ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you." She then went to Larry and hugged him. "Thank you. All of you." Then to Curly and gave him a warm hug, then looked at them all with a beaming smile. "I accept and I promise that I'll take good care of it."

"We know you would," Larry said with a smile. "But we're not dead yet." Humor was in his blue eyes as he gave a small laugh, until Moe glared at him.

"Don't give her any ideas." Then a small smile crept upon his face and glanced at her, telling them that he was joking.

Roxanne laughed then faced the white door with eagerness. "Then let us go to the show!"

"The Three Stooges Plus One!" Larry added standing beside her with enthuseasum.

"The new biggest hit!" Curly chimed in, standing on her right with the three of them grinning like idiots to an invisible audience.

"Hey, Three Stooges Plus One," Moe called as he was opening the door with a stern look on his face with a hat in his hand. "We're goin' to be late."

Curly then whooped in a distressed manner as he grabbed his hat off the coatrack and hurried out the door past Moe with Larry following as he holding down his hat and violin case in hand as he rushed and Roxanne running behind Larry. Moe's eyes grew at the sight as the three dash past him, then took a deep a breath, lightly shook his head, and calmly closed the door as the sound of their thundering footsteps were trampling down the stairs. Right after he locked the door, he hurried after them.

* * *

When they walked in the door of the crowded bar, the three of them were greeted by the bartender as they greeted him back. Roxanne only spoke if she was talked to and that was the way she wanted it to be for only this night. The four of them walked to the back stage as Moe and Curly were going over some lyrics or some other things as Larry was taking out his violin. She looked up at the stage where a stand-up piano was on the far end, waiting to be played. The sound of the violinist turning his instrument was in her thoughts. This was it. Time to prove of what she was made of and after tonight, she'll carry on the search of her pal.

"Nervous?"

The teen turned to the smiling violinist, then smiled. "A little, I guess," she admitted. It was her fist time to play in front of a crowd. Too bad Jack wasn't here to see this.

"Hey, you'll forget about them in less than a minute. You'll do fine." He gave her a reassuring smile with a sparkle in his light-colored eyes.

Roxanne nodded with a smirk. "I hope so."

"Hey," Moe called as he approached them with Curly following. "You two ready?"

They both looked at him with a smile and said, "Ready."

"Good." He then smiled at the girl. "You'll do fine, kid. Relax. Now wait for my cue." He then walked on the stage and the crowd began to clap.

As he was doing the introduction, the three musicians were bored as they were looking around the bar, until Larry began to silently and dramatically mock Moe, followed by Curly. Roxanne was trying to laugh as they began to silent impressions of him in general, making her cover her mouth, but noisily burst through her hand, making the other two silently bust up laughing, until Moe glared murder at them. Immediately they looked away and suddenly the ceiling became very interesting to Roxanne.

"Now," the musician continued calmly. "I would like to introduce Larry Fine on the fiddle and Curly Howard."

The two of them gave a proud smile as they walked on the stage to the clapping crowd, making them bow repeatedly, until they bowed into each other, knocking their heads and Moe scuffled at them, then turned back to the crowd with a smile.

"We have new member to the band. Roxanne Connell on the piano." He introduced her and she walked up the stage with a smile and waved to the crowd, taking a seat at the piano, her heads poised over the keys as her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn't hear what Moe said after, but knew the songs that they were going to do since the music sheet was already on the piano stand. When the music began, she began to play and her fingers were shaking and nervous, but knew that she was not alone on the stage. And Larry was right. After a minute, she forgot that crowd existed and was just paying attention to her notes as the nerves were gone and her heart was relaxing. Once in a while Curly's and Moe's singing wound flow into her head and she knew that they were good, but on stage, they were even better and the four of them were flawless and the crowd was loving them. Until in the middle of the show, Roxanne glanced at the bar and a familiar face caught her eye, making her heart run cold in anger.

Cody. The man that Jack supposedly owes money to.

She knew that it was almost half-time and she was not going to hesitate to ask that man about her best friend. For seven days her friend was missing and her mind was about to break with worry.

When the band's break was announced by Moe, Roxanne calmly smiled kindly at the applauding crowd, and when she walked off, she made a beeline for the brute that threatened her. "Cody," she said sternly, not afraid of meeting the man that nearly broke her arm.

"What do you-" he looked at her and a twisted smile grew upon his face. "Well, well. Jack's kid. What are you-"

"When was the last time you saw Jack? He's been missing," she began straight forwardly, not wanting to dawdle.

Cody chuckled darkly then frowned. "Good. I hope he's dead," he snapped.

Roxanne winced at those words then glared into his dark eyes. "When was the last time you saw him? Tell me, Cody." She felt anger rise into her body. For a week she was trying to be calm. For a week she tried to believe that Jack was coming back. But he was not. Not on his own. Something happened to her best friend and she was the last to know.

His eyes narrowed. "What is in it for me?"

She narrowed her own eyes and looked deep into his. "Tell me about Jack, or I'll rip your tonsils out," she growled darkly, repeating her new friend's words. Cody didn't know where to look as he would look away with his eye, then returned to her non-blinking gaze as if she was staring into his soul. "Fine," he sighed. "Friday night he and I played a game of cards. We made the deal and he lost." He gave a small shrug as he turned back to his drink. "Last time I saw him."

Roxanne gave a small dip of her head as she relaxed. "Thank you." She smiled. "Was it that hard?" She then met up with her band who were talking to some people at a table and whispered to Larry, "I need to swing by my old place for a quick check-up."

He looked at her and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

On the way to Jack's home, the four of them were still talking about the show and how the new member was really well for her first live show. Roxanne was trying to push the worry from Jack from her mind as she would laugh and talk, but when they came to the house, they stopped walking and just looked at it. Sighing, Roxanne was the first to approach it with the three following behind. Digging through a flower pot for the buried key she hid, her heart was heavy, and after she dusted it off and stuck in the knob and turned, she took a deep breath, then opened it.

"Looks like no one's home," Larry said quietly as they all gazed the living room as she flicked on the lights.

Roxanne heavily sighed as she walked in. "He hasn't been home. It the same way I left it." She looked at the coats hanging on the coatrack, clean living room, and tidy bookcase along with other things. She grabbed a peace of paper from a stack of papers on his writing desk and tore a piece off, grabbed a pen, and scrawled a short note, then stuck it on the counter with a out-of-place mug on top of it, then headed for the door. "He'll know where to find me if he returns," she told them, then gave a small smile. "Let's go home."

As she was locking up the house and burying the key, she knew that there was no point in hiding the fact that she may never see Jack again, so instead, she just walked ahead of the trio, wanting to be lost in her own thoughts, but right now, there was no tears in her heart. She ran out of tears a long time ago.


	5. Chapter 4

Saturday morning, before the opening of the pawn shop, was the day that the teenager broke. Jack wasn't going to come back. He was gone and she knew nothing of where he could be or his usual hangouts. She even tried calling his boss, but he never heard from him since last Friday. She didn't know enough to place a missing person's case. Well, she did know that he played cards with Cody the night he disappeared, but that was really it. She began to call each bar that she knew Jack would normally go to for the second time, and they each came up with the same answer as before: No. She would even call his two main friends, but they didn't even know, but offered her help. She just gently declined. When she hang up the phone for the final time, her hand was heavy as she felt the concerned and sadness-filled gazes of her three friends watching her. She just sadly smirked at them as she turned to the door. "I'm going for a walk, I'll meet you at the shop if I don't come back in time." Since she was already dressed in her slacks and in the appropriate attire to walk far in and let her mind wonder as it would sink in.

"Rox-" Curly tried, but she already left and closed the door.

The sixteen-year-old girl felt pain, sick pain, inside as her mind was numb while she was calmly walking down the stairs. Jack was gone and he was never going to come back. When she got to the base of the stairs, she locked eyes with the entrance door, but for some reason, she could not make her feet move. For some reason, it felt like if she walked out now, she would never come back. She was tired of being alone in the world. She lost too many people in her short life and now she lost Jack, her guardian and friend. The young girl sat on the bottom of the stairs as she fought the tears that were beginning to burn in her green eyes. Jack, her best friend and trusted guardian, was gone, as if he disappeared off the face of the planet, and was never going to come back. She remember her last conversation with him before he left, saying that he would be back at the usual time. He never did. She remembered their last laugh together that day, but right now, she didn't want to remember, because the thought, made her break down. She placed her arms on her knees and buried her face in her arms and cried. All the memories of fights, laughs, worries were flooding in her mind. Jack was never going to come back and this time, she didn't need a police officer telling her. Her guardian and best friend was gone, if not dead.

The sound of rushing steps coming down, quickly making her whip her eyes and raise her head, and just look away, hoping that the person was going to ignore her by how much they were in a hurry, but they slowed down.

"Roxanne?"

It was Larry.

She couldn't find her voice as she was trying to take steady breaths, but a sniffle was let out, giving her pain away.

"You're worried about Jack, huh?" He asked as he approached her and sat beside her.

Roxanne didn't look at him. "H-he's not coming back, is he?" For a week, she was keeping it low about the worries of Jack, half-hoping that he was going to come around, but after week, reality struck.

"Aw, Roxxy. You can't say that," he soothed.

"He's been gone for eight days and I tried asking people, the police station hasn't called yet, and I don't know where else to look. Have I not tried hard enough? Is there something that I'm missing? What if he needs me and I don't know what to do?" All these questions were mocking her and for some reason, she felt like she failed him instead. All the questions that she was fighting for the past week.

"This is not your fault, Roxanne," he said sternly. "This was never your fault."

"I know, but…" her voice faded as she rested her head in her palm as the tears were beginning to dry.

"You really don't know where to find him, do you?" Concern was in his voice.

She shook her head. "No." She then raised her head and looked ahead. "If he is gone, then what? He was my guardian for a year and then I'll be back on my own." Her voice went more quiet as she looked away in heartache as she had overstayed her welcome with the trio, and would be back to living on her home, but that wouldn't last long. It was under Jack's name and she was a minor. At least she'll have a job, but that is really it. She won't have the house for long and back to the streets, clawing her way through and being the tramp she was before, fighting for safety and staying away from creeps.

"Hey," he said in a more perkier way. "Ya got us!" He gently hit her on the arm with the back of his hand, making her look at the grinning man with frizzy red hair.

"You mean it?" She asked with a slight arched eyebrow. She already knew that her stay may be limited, but for some reason, she just couldn't believe her friend's words.

"Yes, silly." He then stood up with her fallowing. "Of course you'll miss Jack, but at least you got us!" His blue eyes were shining bright with a smile radiating kindness.

Roxanne had to chuckle at that with a small smile. "That is true," she commented and it was, but she would never get over the loss of her friend. He was like a father to her.

"Now, stop moping about how we're gonna kick you out, cuz we're not." He began to walk up the stairs with her beside him. "We'd never do that."

"Are you sure because I don't want-"

"Look, Roxxy," Larry said as he looked at her as the smile faded. "We're you're friends now. You're one of us." The smiled returned. "And that means we've got your back." He then roughly rubbed the top of her head. "And you're like a little sister we have to keep an eye on," he laughed.

She looked up as she flatted her auburn hair and smirked jokingly. "Gee, thanks." She then looked at him in a pondering way. "Why did you come after me?"

He gave a small shrug then looked at her. "Because we were worried about you and I couldn't let you get far." He then sighed heavily, pretending to be worn out. "And boy, that door was so far, I thought for sure I was never going to catch up."

The teenager laughed. "I would've went farther if I didn't hesitate to leave," she admitted. She figured that he thought she was going to go far by the way he was rushing, trying to catch up to her, but she was still in the building to his convenience.

"Aw, you didn't want to leave us." He gave her fake eyes that were supposedly touched by her heartfelt decision.

She laughed. "You can put it that way." It was true and there was no use in hiding it.

The short man just laughed as they carried up the stairs to the third level. "You're a strong kid, that's for sure."

Roxanne smiled at him, touched by his words. "Thanks, Larry."

He looked at her. "Don't thank me, thank yourself. You act as if I did somethin'."

She narrowed her eyes as she just gave a thin smile and slowly shook her head. "Fine."

"Yes?" He asked as he smiled like he was important.

Forgetting that was his last name, she just chuckled and shook her head. "I meant: Fine. Have it your way."

"Well, you can just call me by my first name," he said, pretending to feel offended.

The teenager just smiled as she playing smacked his arm. "You know what I meant."

Larry laughed. "Violent little thing, aren't you?"

Roxanne looked at him with a humorous smile. "I spent eight days with you three."

He gave a knowing shrug. "True."

When they came to the apartment, he opened the door and allowed her to walk in first with him following, but they froze as Moe was threatening Curly with a hammer. "Why if ya weren't my brother, I bust yer skull in," he threatened with his blue eyes narrowed and lips thinned.

"Oh, Moe, please don't do that," the innocent one pleaded as he backed into the wall with his hands up, trying to calm his brother.

Roxanne had learnt that the two were brothers, but they knew Larry for so long, they basically considered him as a brother if not a close friend.

"Hey," Larry barged in as he approached them. "What's goin' on?"

"Melon-head here," Moe began as he turned to the third, "forgot to go to the market yesterday and didn't get any food. Now we don't have any food."

"We can worry about that later." He then smiled and stepped aside and gestured to the teenager as a presentation. "I found her!" He cried happily. "She was on the stairs on the first floor."

"Roxanne!" The two of them cried joyously, forgetting about their own dilema.

Then Curly turned to Moe and crossed his arms in a proud way. "Ha. See? Now ya can hurt me in front of a lady." He then placed his hand horizontally in front of his brother's face and made jerky upwards movement, making Moe follow with his head, then Curly pulled his hand away and began to clap in his face, until Moe threatened with the hammer, but knew that he was right as he shrugged and placed the hammer on the kitchen counter, and the bigger man smiled as he gave a curt nod, approving his decision. The gentle man then walked up to her with a grin. "Hiya, Roxxy. Is everything goin' better?" His blue eyes shined with hopefulness. He was always a softy and knew how to make her laugh.

She chuckled at his concern. "I can only hope," she replied in truthfulness with a heavy heart.

He then frowned sadly as he slowly nodded his head, then looked at her with wide eyes. "But you'll be stayin', right?"

Roxanne smiled and took a deep breath. "Yes, I'll be staying."

Curly then turned to his brother with an excited smile. "Hey, Moe, did ya hear-"

"Yeah," he answered in what sounded like annoyance. "I did. Now last time I checked we have a shop to get to and it's almost eight." He turned to the teenager. "Not that I'm happy to see you, Roxanne, I am, it's-"

She smiled in understanding. "We have a business to get to."

The three of them gave a curt nod and began to get ready to leave to the pawn shop.

* * *

On the drive to the shop. Roxanne could not wipe Jack away from her mind for obvious reasons. She knew when she would get home and lay on her couch, memories would rush back into her mind like a flash flood and she was ready for it, but right now, she had a job to do and was being paid for it. Most of the day was slow as the four of them were working in the shop as Roxanne was sweeping in the edges of the floor, still thinking about the loss of her dear friend and guardian. She was happy to be with the Stooges and even though that poor Curly and Larry would get shoved around by Moe, she didn't mind, even thought there were times that she was worried about the two of them, but knew that they were alright since Moe did not mean to cause injury, just a harsh reminder, so it didn't bother her. They were brothers- and two that were biological- and they would not act serious at times, but when it came to the shop and money, Moe was the man to speak to. He had a good business mind and the other two were good at listening, until that found something else that caught their attention, especially Roxanne who would think of her friend, but then a slap from Moe to Larry and Curly would snap her out of it.

Then while she was dusting the shelves in the storage room, she heard someone walk in the store, then a moment later, she heard a strange man shout, "We know the girl is here. Now where is she?"

She stopped was she was doing as her blood ran cold and listened in.

"We don't know what yer talkin' about," Moe answered slowly and angrily.

"We have her pal," the man answered darkly.

Roxanne's heart stopped dead in its tracks as her eyes grew wide. Did her ears deceive her? Jack was alive? Who was that man? Why did he want her? But was it true? Jack was… alive? She calmly walked out of the storage room, revealing herself with cold anger in her heart as she looked at the tall, lena man wearing a brown suit and coat with a fedora and to her inner fear, a gun aimed at her friends with another man behind him with also a gun aimed. "Where is he?" She called with her eyes locked on them and anger was in her heart as fear was only standing behind it.


	6. Chapter 5

The two men turned to her and smirked. "Well, looks like that note you left behind didn't lie," the leader of the two commented with a glint in his brown eyes.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" She questioned, crossing her arms, looking him in the eyes. It wasn't the first time she ran into trouble, but she also never dealt with a gun before, but she knew to always stay calm if possible.

"Your friend, Jack, has gotten in a lot of trouble with our boss and we were ordered to take you out for a little… Revenge." His smile had twisted humor written all over it.

Roxanne couldn't help, but smile. "Aw, thanks, but you're not my type." She always found humor messing with trouble. It was her own personal amusement at times. The stranger just looked at her with confusion, then his friend whispered to him, "She's no fool, that's for sure."

He glared at him in annoyance. "Ya think I don't know that?" He asked coldly. There was a pause, then the two gave a knowing gaze, and the man looked back at her. "You're young. Too bad." He then aimed the gun at her.

Roxanne felt immediate fear as her eyes grew wide and slightly stepped back as she looked at the barrel of the gun, until Moe grabbed the man's wrist and began to fight gun away. Larry went to help him as Curly dealt the other man. Roxanne jumped over the counter and hurried to search the store for something to hit with, knowing that she couldn't just leave her friends to do the work that she caused. Then the sound of a gun went off, making her jump as she quickly turned, fearing the worst, but only found the gun went off and hit the counter, making her sigh in relief. She turned to Curly who kept getting slugged in the face, making her quickly look around and found a glass container filled with water, grabbed it, then ran behind the man and began to spray pressured water.

The man turned to her and she aimed at his face as he was trying to block the water, until an empty beer bottle slammed against his head, shattered the glass and had a dazed look. The teenager released her finger from the trigger of the glass container and he fell to the side, revealing Curly holding the neck of a broken bottle. She smiled aprovingly. "Nice work."

He smiled proudly. "It wasn't nothin'."

They both turned to the other two who just knocked the gunman out with the butt of his own gun and fell back. The two friends shook each others hands in success as they approached them.

"Now what?" Curly asked.

"Now we call the cops," Moe answered as he gestured to the phone on the counter with his head.

Roxanne then noticed the paper-press behind Larry and it gave her an idea. "I think you should wake this guy up."

They all looked at her in confusion and she smiled to the paper press and they each slowly nodded their heads in understanding with a small smile of agreement.

Moe then turned to his brother. "Hey, knucklehead, get some water and wake this guy up."

"Right!" He said as he saluted, but smacked Moe in the face and glared at the innocent man who had fear on his face, then dashed to get water. A moment later, he retuned with a bucket of water and tossed it on the unconscious gangster, who did wake up.

Moe and Larry then heaved the confused man to the paper press to the waiting Roxanne and stuck his head in as he begged them not to.

"You're going to tell me where Jack is," the teenager said as she began to turn to large wheel, lowering the press.

"No!" He cried as he struggled to get free.

"Tell me!" She shouted as anger began to take over. She finally had the man who knew about her guardian and she was still turning the wheel. He was going to talk and she was going to make him.

"Okay, okay! He's in the apartment building on Rosemary Street. About ten miles away. 2130 is the address. Brown apartment room 115 first floor."

"Is there anyone else there?"

"Either one or two. That's all I know!"

The young girl then smiled as she began to loosen the wheel. "Thank you for your time," she said politely, then right when he stuck his head out, Moe and Larry both knocked him over then head with a hammer that was right beside the paper press, just as Curly approached them eagerly. "I just called the police. They're on their way."

"Good," Moe stated as the four stood around in a circle and placed the hammer on the table. "When they take of these two, we'll head over to the apartment and get Jack."

"But he said there maybe more there," Larry said, concerned at thought and had a right to be.

The leader looked at him. "That's why we won't tell the cops. We don't want to take any risks."

"But we can't just walk in," he pointed out.

"No, but we'll be ready."

Roxanne took a deep breath as she sadly smirked as a thought entered her head. "I left that note for Jack if he'd return, but it turns out that gangsters found it instead."

The three of them looked at her with questioning eyes. "Why do they have Jack?" Moe asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know."Jack was never special enough to get gangsters after him. It's not like he well-known or something. Why they wanted to kill her, that was also a mystery. She never messed with those kind of men before in her life. "The guy did say something about revenge. Revenge for what though?" She placed a hand to her chin as she looked away, thinking about scenarios that could've happened as the three began to think as well. Jack never killed anyone that she is aware of and he doesn't have a criminal record that she knows of. Was he hiding something from her or was there more that meets the eye?

"I know!" Curly exclaimed excitedly, making them all look at him eagerly. "Jack might have thought to be a different person, so when they got him, they thought he was someone else, so when they found out that he wasn't the person that they were looking for, they went to get Roxxy for revenge for the lying." He ended with a proud grin.

The three of them just sighed in disappointment at the idea, knowing that it was not the case of mistaken identity.

"Next time when ya have an idea," Moe began aggitated, "don't say anything!"

Clurly winced at his words.

Roxanne knew that they'll learn about what had happened when they get Jack and she only hoped that it wasn't anything bad or a secret hidden because she did not want to lose her best friend. She lost him one too many times.

* * *

When the cops came by to get the gangsters, the four of them pretended that they didn't know anything else other than them, but after the cops drove away, the four of the closed the shop early and jumped in their car, and headed to the address to where Jack was supposedly was. The drive was mostly silent as each were lost in their own minds as Roxanne was just have questions flood her mind once again, but Curly, sitting beside her in back, gave her a reassuring smile, making her smile back. She knew that if something did happen to her guardian, she would have three news ones, but Jack was like a father to her and if she saw him for the last time, she would not hesitate to admit it to him, even if he didn't feel the same way. They did a quick stop at their own apartment to pick up the teen's tan coat as a disguise, then they carried on their drive. Then they pulled up to the brown apartment building like the man told her and Moe killed the engine and the four of them got out. When they met on the side walk, Moe place his hat on her head and kept it low and pulled her collar on the coat up. "We don't want people to recognize your red hair."

Roxanne tried to look around with the hat that was almost to her eyes, making it hard to see, then pushed it up slightly with her thumb, but if she would see anyone that she did not know, she would just keep it low. With Moe taking the lead, the quartet walked into the apartment complex. It was just like any other apartment and wasn't that special. The four of them continued to be couscous as they looked around the first floor for the room number 115. Roxanne's heart was heavy when they came to the door of the three little black numbers on the tan door in the back of the hall. Jack was so close, so close that she couldn't wait to see her best pal and the police was going to be called after this was dealt with and that was a promise.

Moe gave them a knowing look, telling them to be ready for anything and they each nodded back. When he knocked on the door, it almost seemed as if each of them were holding their breaths, then he knocked again and there still was no answer.

"Maybe they're not home," Larry whispered.

"Maybe they knew we were coming so they left," Curly said, adding his classic laugh.

Moe and Larry just looked at him with slight shakes of the head, knowing that was not possible.

Roxanne took a deep sigh as she narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Does anyone have a paperclip?"

They each shook their heads, looking at her in confusion.

Without saying anything else, Roxanne went to the receptionist desk in the front which was still empty, snuck behind it and took a couple of paperclips, returned to the trio, began to unbend the thin wires, knelt in front of the door, and began to pick the lock, which clicked in success. She then stood up, stuck the lock-picks in her pocket, and looked at the bewildered trio. "It's all yours."

Moe stepped to the door and slowly opened it and looked at her with bafflement.

She gave a half shrug. "You learn some things while on the streets," she simply answered and it was the truth. She hardly picked any locks unless in was nesissary.

The four of them slowly entered the empty apartment with a couch and others basic things. Clearly these guys weren't planning on staying here long. Larry closed and locked the door as Roxanne began to look around in the room, then to the bedroom. When she opened the door, her heart jolted. "Jack!" She cried as she found her friend tied to a chair and gagged and rushed to his side and tied the gag.

"Roxanne," he gasped with wide dark eyes as he looked at her in confusion. "What are you-"

"Never mind. You're alive!" She grinned as happiness was taking over. She just wanted to hug him from the long week of worrying about him. Her guardian and best friend was alive!

"Roxanne, there is something that I have to tell-" he stopped as he noticed the three men standing at the doorway.

The teenager turned over her shoulder and smiled at them, telling them to come, and turned back to her tied up friend. "Jack, these are the Three Stooges: Moe, Larry, and Curly. Stooges, Jack."

"Hi," the three of them said simultaneously.

"Hi," Jack said, then he shook his head with his chin-length black hair flipping around as if to shake a thought out. "Roxanne," he said as he looked at her. "You have to get out of here before they come back."

Worry and heartache made her frown. "No," she demanded. "I was worried sick about you for eight days and I was beginning to think that you were dead." How could he say something like that? Did he even know what she went through? No, of course not!

The guardian just heavily sighed in annoyance as he hung his head.

"Why are you saying this and who are those people?" She asked as worry, confusion as racing through her mind. Finally she could ask the questions that she been wanting to ask for quite awhile, but there was something that he was not telling her. Something that he didn't want to tell.

"Gangsters," he answered coldly.

"I know, but why?"

He didn't look at her as he answered, "I was never the person you think I am, Roxanne." He then looked at her with emotionless dark eyes. "I was gangster."


	7. Chapter 6

The room was silent after those words were said as the young girl just stood there, staring at her guardian, the man she trusted, in disbelief. "A… a gangster?" She repeated as she felt her mind turn numb. She didn't even know what to think or ask, only felt a betrayal. She trusted him and how could she never know about this? "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked quietly as anger and betrayal was rising in her blood. "How can you do this? What do you mean you were a gangster?" She now practically shouting.

"It was before you were born," he calmly answered. "You can say that I used to one of the bad guys." He was just looked at her with emotionless eyes, then heavily sighed. "I never wanted to tell you, Roxxy. I changed ever since. I betrayed these guys and had them arrested after I realized what I was doing- even though if took me a year," he added under his breath, "but," he looked back at her, "I changed ever since. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you." His eyes were heartbroken, but Roxanne was confused and her hurt.

"Wh-what about my father? The man that you once called your best friend!" The thought of him betraying her father, built rage.

He then sadly smirked. "Your father was also never the man you thought he was."

"What?" She whispered as horror turned her face pale, then anger took over. "You're lying! Jack, I trusted you! My _father _trusted you!"

"The car accident was never an accident, Roxanne," he said coldly as he looked away in pain.

"What do you mean?" Her body began to shake at those words. What was he talking about? She heard that it was a side collision from a red light. That was it.

He took a deep breath, then answered, "Your father was a smuggler for the gang at that time. I was only there for a year after a back robbery went wrong, I killed a guy," he smirked sadly at he raised his head and his eyes were distant at the memory, "I knew what I doing was wrong. I tried to leave the gang and your father," he smiled, "he was trying to convince me to stay, otherwise they'd have me killed. So I turned them in, including your father, but we had plan that made us get out early. We changed our lives, he met your mother, got married, and a couple of years later they had you."

"But what about the car crash?" She whispered, still trying to wrap her mind around his words.

Jack sadly nodded as he looked down at the food with his eyes. "The gang knew what I did and they knew that your father had something to do with it also, so they were trying to off him as they were trying to do to me at the same time, but I was too slippery for them," he smirked with humor, but it didn't last long. "They found your father's whereabouts and they were following him, waiting for him to get to his distention, but impatience go the better of them, so they did some maneuvers and plowed right into the side of the car and the other side hit the barrier." He hung his head at the memory and he went quiet. The loss of he best friend was still paining him.

"How do you know this?" She whispered as she no longer looked at him that way she did before as she slightly backed away from her friend.

"The driver lived and when I heard about it, I went to the station and talked him. Found out he was one of Mike's boys and that was it. Didn't need to hear anymore." Then anger took over. "Now, they want me and when I turned them, one of the guys was killed by a cop and Mike and his boys point the blame on me. Now they want me and they know you, the daughter of a traitor and now you under care of the other traitor." He then smirked darkly at her. "Now since I betrayed them, they want to make my life Hell by killing you and you just walked in their door. They'll be back soon, so you and your friends better beat it, otherwise you're gonna have a nice bullet hole through the head, kid."

Roxanne felt torn. Half of her wanted to turn away from him for everything that he's done, but she knew that she couldn't. He was a changed man and she trusted him. After all, she was looking for him for eight days. Without saying a word, she jumped behind the chair and began to pick at the rope's knot.

"What are you doing?" He hissed over his shoulder.

"Untying you, moron." The sound of people talking outside of room caught their attention as keys began to clink against each other. She poked her head behind his shoulder with wide eyes. "Barge the door," she whispered to the trio who were looking around in a confused manner, then silently hurried around the room, looking for a quick delay.

Her Fingers were shaking as she was trying to loosen the dreaded knot, but then she heard a scuffle, making her stand up and peek into the living room to find her three friends backing away from four other men with guns drawn. _Oh, yeah. Only one or two, _she growled in her head. She should've known better than to trust a gangster.

"_Psst_," Jack hissed, catching her attention and he motioned to the closet closet with his head. She did what she was told and took refuge in the bedroom closet, and listened in as she heard a man walk into the bedroom.

"Is the girl here?" A voice snapped.

"No. Those three told me they were friends of hers and they left her at their place. Figured it would be too dangerous to bring her here," Jack lied.

"What if I blow your brains out right now if your lying?" He growled darkly.

It sounded like Jack was smirking. "I'm probably going to die anyway, so surprise me. What's so special about her anyway?"

"She's your responsibility, isn't she? I just want you to suffer, Jack, for everything you did, traitor."

Jack said nothing.

Footsteps began to fade and faint voices were speaking, then another man came back and a moment later it sound like Jack was free. "Now we're gonna take you and your three pals on little walk."

Roxanne's heart froze in terror. Fighting the temptation to intervene, she thought better of it, was going to wait until it was time to strike. First she was going to follow them as the two began to walk of the room. A moment, later it sounded like the room itself was empty, making her hesitantly creep out of the closet and tiptoe to the locked front door, unlocked it, and poked her head out to check, and she just caught them walking out the front door, making her silently follow only a few steps behind with her ducking behind corners and not being noticed, hoping that an idea would enter her mind quickly.

* * *

Roxanne followed the group to a back alley that was a couple of blocks away and looked run down like hardly anyone came by. By the looks of it, they were on the verge of the bad end. The teenager stayed hidden and watched as her four friends were forced to a wall with their hands raised and the gunman were still aiming their revolvers at them.

"Well, Jack," a man spoke, "this is it, pal." His voice was empty, but filled with sarcasm. "It was good known' ya."

"Oh, yeah," Jack replied with a return of sarcasm. "I getting real teary-eyed, Mike. Spare me your lack of emotions."

Roxanne quickly glanced around for anything to throw. Anything that could be used as a projectile.

"Then you can apologize to your accomplices that you brought them to the end early," he said coldly as he stood beside his boys, guns at the ready. "Any last words?"

She then spotted some loose rocks nearby, and grabbed them, and silently walked out of her hiding spot.

"Moe," Curly began in a trembling voice. "I'm scared."

"You think I'm not?" He asked in a fearful voice.

"Well," Larry smirked nervously. "At least we'll go together."

"I hope Roxanne is alright," Jack smirked, making her listen. "Some guardian I was."

"Are ya kiddin'?" Larry asked. "You were like a father to her. She never stopped worrin' about ya."

"Yeah," Curly began. "She said that you were her best friend."

"And ya never let her down," Moe added.

A tear entered Roxanne's eye at those words. They were certainly true.

Jack smirked sadly at that. "She deserved better and by the looks of it, she deserved you three."

Then then sound of the guns being cocked caught their attention, and that's when Roxanne threw a rock, but just missing Mike, who was standing on the right, making a clatter on the ground, catching their attention.

"Oops," Roxanne said, getting the gangsters' attention. "Bad throw." She aimed and right before they could react, she threw the rock, smacking Mike right in the head and causing him to stagger. "There we go," she said with a pleased smile, then grinned like an idiot and called, "Hey, moronic imbecile! How does it feel to take a rock to the face?"

Just after she said that, her four pals jumped into action and grabbed one of each. Being not-so-good fighters, her three friends did what they knew best and that was run and ad-lib as Jack was dealing with an already confused man, he ran up to her and embraced her. "You are a little risk-taker," he said with a smirk as he looked down at her with his hands on her shoulders.

The teenager shrugged shyly. "It was nothing." She then looked up at him with a smile, knowing that it was time to admit the truth. "You were like a father to me, Jack. I couldn't forget that." They both smiled each other, knowing words did not need to be traded, until she noticed her three friends run behind him with three lunatics chasing them. Her green eyes grew wide. "Uh, I got to help them." Right she was about to assist with any problems, a gangster fell back behind the corner of a wall and Larry looking over at him with a grin, then looked up, terror on his face, then he bolted as another gangster was chasing him who was being chased by a club-wielding Moe.

"I think they're fine," Jack commented with an arched eyebrow, never seeing anything of the sort.

"Yeah, but where's Curly?" She asked as she noticed that she only spotted two of the three.

Then a moment later, a yelp was heard and the three of them walked into view with an annoyed Moe, who was not happy with his brother about mistaking him as a gangster, but of course Curly didn't mean to and kept apologizing with his hands raised, afraid of being smacked. The teenager just smiled at the sight of her usual friends' behavior and approached them, until they noticed Mike stagger to his feet with a smile, who was staring past the girl and heard the sound of a gun cock. Just as she turned around, the gun was raised and aimed at her guardian, making her blood run cold. "Jack!" She cried, she ran between him and the bullet, then the gun went off with a bang.


	8. Chapter 7

Jack felt his heart stop as he saw the girl fall to the ground on her side just as Larry and Moe grabbed Mike's wrist with the gun and held him back, but they were too late. "Roxanne!" He cried as ran to the young teen's side and held her in his arms. "Roxanne," he said, trying to stay calm as he placed a over her auburn hair. "Roxxy. Kid. Stay with me. Roxxy?"

Her green eyes then snapped open with a grin on her face. "Surprise!" His eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Dammit, Roxanne!" He shouted as he dropped her to the ground and stood up, looking down at her as she was standing up. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! What the hell were you thinking? That bullet nearly could've hit you! And then what? You'd be dead!" Anger was blazing inside him as the fear of losing her was being released as she just stood there, smiling at him. "I don't know why you find this funny. You could've died!"

"Aw," she said, still smiling. "You do care about lil' ol' me."

"Damn right," he growled. "And don't _ever_ do a stunt like that again. You hear me?"

The teenager chuckled in a shy way. "Yes, Jack."

He then turned to the gangster that was being held off by the three of them. "And you," he growled as he looked at him in his brown eyes. "You nearly shot my daughter, you bastard."

Mike smirked. "Too bad. I was aiming for you, until that brat got in the way, then these idiots came along."

"Hey," Curly stated defensively with a glaring look at him as he got his left arm. "We're not idiots! We're morons!"

"Yeah," Larry agreed, glaring at the gangster, holding his other arm.

"We resent that," Moe added, then smacked him on the back of the head with his free hand as he was holding him by the collar. Jack just glared at the man who nearly ruined his life and who nearly took away the person he cared for a year as he brought a fist to his face and growled, "I should knock your teeth out, Mike."

"Jack," Roxanne called as she approached to his side. "I think jail time will be enough for these four. Besides," she gave small shrug with a smile. "I think these three know what to do. Right?" She gave a knowing hint to her three friends, who each smiled and gave a curt nod.

"Right." They answered at the same time, then Curly walked away, who came back with a moment later with a block of wood that he accidentally hit Moe with awhile ago.

"Here ya go," he said as he handed the short man with the bowl haircut with a smile.

Moe then turned to Jack with a sly smile. "Do you want to have the honors?"

The baffled man gingerly took the block of wood. "Sure," he answered, never doing a thing like this before in his life. Then he turned to the fearful Mike with a twisted smile.

"No," the gangster said quietly. "No, please. I-"

Jack smirked. "Don't worry. It's not going to kill you." He then brought it down on top of his head, knowing him out as the two dropped him like a ton of bricks. He then smirked. "Wow. Never would've thought doing that."

"Eh," Roxanne said as she lightly waved it off. "You get used to it."

* * *

The teenager felt her heart turn heavy as she looked at the trio and then approached as sadness each fell upon their faces. "I want to thank you. All of you, for everything. I couldn't have done it without you three." She knew that since she had Jack back in her life, it was time to go their separate ways. She hated the thought of it. These three were becoming like family.

"Who said you'll be leaving?" Curly asked with worry in his blue eyes that lighten up with his words.

"Yeah," Larry chimed in. "You still have a job."

"And ya still got us!" Moe added.

Roxanne couldn't help, but chuckle at her three friends' words, and looked at them with kindness. "You three are beloved goofballs that are like three wacky uncles, you know that?"

The three of them smiled shyly at that.

"And you're like a niece that practically stumbled in our lives like a lost puppy," Larry said with a smile and humor in his light-colored eyes.

She smiled at him. "And you have a way with words."

He just flustered at her words.

She then looked at each of them. "Moe, Larry, Curly; I owe you big-"

Moe raised his hand and looked at her in seriousness. "What did I tell ya about that 'owin' business'?"

"To forget about," she answered like a child who was tired of the same lectures, but with humor.

He gave a thin smirk and slowly nodded his head in approval.

The teenager then felt a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at Jack with a small smile as he looked down at her. "I hear you have a job?"

"Yeah. These three gave it to me. They even let me inherit it after them. It's a pawn shop." She still could not get over that they did that for a teenager, who they just temporarily took under their wing. They certainly were like uncles and she would never forget them in all her days. No matter how far she would go in life, she would always remember the trio. She did not want to say good-bye to them, but knew that was unavoidable. Her guardian was back and there was no reason to be with them, unless she would somehow still work for them.

"And I can tell that you trust these three." He then looked at them. "I also want to thank you for helping Roxanne while I was… away. I appreciate that you looked after her and since she is one of your employees- not to mention the heir to your business- then I have no right to take that away from you." He then smiled at her. "Either of you."

Roxanne's heart skipped a beat as she beamed at her guardian in disbelief. "You mean it?" Was he serious? He was willing to take her to the pawn shop everyday before work? Even if it was out of her way?

Jack chuckled. "Of course. After all, I owe some things, too."

"Yeah," she said as her eyes narrowed and crossed her arms. "Like keeping that nice little secret away from me." The the teen knew that she could never shake the thought of the man her guardian used to be, but that was years ago, but this time, she was only playing around.

The tall man just looked away and rubbed the back of his neck.

She laughed. "I'm only joking. Lighten up, Jack!" She gave him a little nudge with her elbow. Since the Stooges taught her a thing or two, it was time to hand it down to her stern and obscene-humor guardian.


	9. Epilogue

A week after the whole excitement of being under the wings of the Three Stooges and Jack being kidnapped by his old gang, things were finally getting back in order, but only with slight changes. Instead of being left to do whatever she wanted while Jack was at work, Roxanne would get dropped off by her guardian at the pawn shop, where the trio would greet her like an old friend and she was still in the band. Of course Jack didn't know that she played the piano, but when they were on the stage Friday night, the teenager never felt so happier to see her guardian in the audience, smiling at her with pride as he was playing cards with some guys. She would throw him a smile as she was still hitting the keys, then after the show, she walked up to him and she gave her a proud clap on the shoulder.

"Kid," he said with a grin and a sparkle in his dark eyes, "I never knew that you played! Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." It was true and she was afraid that she would keep her hopes up of him one day buying her a piano.

The trio approached them and he smiled at them. "You three are really good and I still can believe that you threw her in there."

Moe smiled. "Think nothin' of it."

"Yeah," Larry agreed with a smile. "She's a smart kid and a great pianist."

Roxanne just smiled shyly at those comments, then noticed Jack's eyes wonder away.

"Excuse me," he muttered then walked away to a woman across the bar.

The teenager just crossed her arms and shook her head. "Ten bucks says he gets turned down or slapped," she muttered to the three.

The woman looked like she gave a disapproving look at the smooth-smiling Jack and walked away.

"Yep," she sighed sadly. "I was right."

Jack approached them with an embarrassed smirk. "Never mind."

Curly then grinned and whooped as he rubbed his hands together, then began to walk away. "Don't wait till you hear from me."

The two others eyes then snapped open as they spotted the gal he was looking at, then pulled him back by the coat, Moe tried to walk, until Larry grabbed him by the coat, then the three of them just looked at each other and dashed to her like there was fire.

The two just shook their heads as they both knew that it wasn't going to end well, and sure enough, they got slapped in a row and the blonde walked away.

"Ouch," they hissed at the same time.

The disappointed trio slinked back to their friends and Moe shook his head with a proud smirk. "She was too good for us."

"She had no class," Larry added, trying to keep his pride.

"Yeah, no class," Curly repeated with a fancy attitude, until Moe slapped him.

Roxanne sighed. "Men will be men." They were always trying to get the girls.

"Yes," Jack said, "and good thing you're still sixteen because you don't need them. Except for us. You need us. But you don't need a boyfriend."

The teenager just looked at him. "I don't want a boyfriend." She knew that she wasn't ready for one and that was the last thing she wanted after everything she went through.

The guardian smiled, pretending to be proud. "I raised you well."

"You only raised me for a year," she muttered as she looked away in annoyance.

"A year that could've saved your life!"

"I lived on the streets just fine without you," she stated simply, pretending not to care, but in the inside, there was humor.

"Oh, okay then. Walk out, kid, and see what happens."

With that, Roxanne just headed for the door of the bar.

"Roxxy."

She kept walking.

"Roxxy!" He called louder, but she ignored. "Roxanne!"

She just grinned and waved her hand. She was going to see what would happen. When she stepped outside, she waited for the others to follow and sure enough, they did and she smiled. "Well, I walked out and," she looked around in a disappointed manner as the sound of the city was around them, "nothing happened except for being outside." She looked back at her guardian. "Is something supposed to happen or something?"

Jack smirked as he shook his head. "You're nuts, kid, you know that?"

She grinned at that and gave a small bow. "Thank ya very much!"

He chucked. "You're so weird."

"Weird?" She repeated as if offended. "Is that all? C'mon. You can do better than that!"

"A moron?" Curly asked.

She grinned at him. "Yes."

"An imbecile?" Larry asked.

"That too."

"An ignoramus?" Moe questioned.

"Now that's more like it!" She cried excitedly.

Jack chuckled at that as he crossed his arms. "Wow. That almost summoned you four up."

Each of their eyes snapped open at that as if it was an insult.

"Whaddya mean 'almost'?" She yelled at him.

"We are perfectly capable of all those things!" Curly added defensively.

"We are morons!" Larry cried.

"Uh, guys?" Jack asked as he slowly began to step back as they took steps forward.

"You three," Moe began as if he was thinking of a plan. "I say we show him what true morons are."

They each gave them a scheming look and Curly dashed into the bar and a moment later, he came out with a couple of fresh baked pies one in each hand and a smile on his face. "I found these in the kitchen."

Moe and Larry each took one and terror was on Jack's face.

"Get 'em!" Roxanne cried and they began to chase the poor man down the street of Los Angeles with two pie-wielding morons and two who found random debris on the ground and tossed them in their victim's direction. They all knew that they're lives will never be the same and that was okay with them. After all, people don't have to be related to be family and that is just what they were.

* * *

Rest in peace Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, and all the other Stooges over the years. You touched the hearts of countless people and brought joy to peoples' days. Thank you.


End file.
